


Immovable Forces

by TheProperLexicon



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 15:11:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheProperLexicon/pseuds/TheProperLexicon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day, at some point, Azkadellia would get up and excuse herself from DG. The younger princess would try to follow her, but she would shrug it off as she left her sister’s side. On her way past Cain the elder princess would meet his gaze and there was that look again, that flicker of hope. He would wait until Azkadellia was away, heading inside for whatever reason she had before he would step up beside the younger princess and greet her for the first time that day. They would talk, sometimes about political matters, or about something she had learned in her studies that day.<br/>More often than not, they spoke of nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Immovable Forces

The _slap, slap, slap_ of bare feet echoed through the halls as she ran, her gown of powder blue streaming out behind her like a cape. Her brown hair was loose in curls and as she twisted her head to look over her shoulder it fanned out around her face like a dark halo. There was a giggle from behind her, somewhere not so far away, and it pushed her faster with a squeal. She came to the grand staircase that led down into the entry hall and she reached down to grasp her skirts with two dainty fists before flying down them like a woman on the lam.

“I see you!” Azkadellia called gleefully from the top of the chamber, leaning over the railing to make faces at her younger sister. DG turned from where she had just touched the tile of the entry hall and stuck her tongue out at her elder sister. Azkadellia turned from the railing and gave chase once again. With a squeak, DG turned and fled across the elegant white tile toward the hall at the far end of the room.

She turned the corner into the dark wooded hall and slammed smack into an immovable force. She pulled back, flushed from her escape and beamed up at the man before her. “Cain!” she giggled breathlessly. “You’re back from the Western Wood!”

“Yeah, Princess,” he said, reaching out to steady her. “Just walked in.” His hands gripped her shoulders as she rocked against him. “What’s going on? You ok?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, turning to look over her shoulder again. “Just,” she cut off at the sound of slippers on the tile. “Oh! Gotta go!” She ducked around him and took off like a shot, a huge grin on her face. Azkadellia came barreling around the corner, dodging Cain successfully. “Catch me if you can, Az!” DG shouted over her shoulder as she flung herself around the corner at the end of the hall.

“I’ll get you, my pretty!” Az shouted laughingly. She bolted after her younger sister, disappearing around the corner in no time. Cain stood there for a long moment, shaking his head at the two of them before turning on his heel and heading in the opposite direction. He had a meeting with Ahamo.

 

Two hours later Cain found the two princesses lying side by side in the grasses by the gazebo. They were clasping hands, with the Light glowing radiantly between them. He stopped just outside of their circle of light, watching them pointing with their free hands at the clouds above them. It was Azkadellia that noticed him first and her hand dropped to her side before she sat up. “Mr. Cain,” she said, brushing her long hair over her shoulder. He nodded to her, taking note that she looked incredibly different than the woman he had seen only weeks ago, before he left for the rebel camp in the Western Wood. She looked younger, her make-up less severe. She had let her hair fall around her face in its natural curls and had taken to wearing long sleeved gowns with high-cut necklines.

“Hello, your Highness,” Cain said with a bow of his head. “It’s good to see you standing still.”

“Yes. Sorry for earlier. Welcome back.” She rose to her feet as DG sat up as well. Her wavy dark hair was loose around her face as she smiled at him. “I’ll leave you two to catch up.” She wrapped her arms around herself as DG opened her mouth to argue. A look from Azkadellia silenced her. “I’ll be fine, Deege,” she continued. “I’m going to go find Ambrose.” She turned and headed back toward the main house on the lakeside. On her way past Cain she met his gaze and he saw something there, a flicker of hope.

They watched as Azkadellia disappeared across the plains, growing smaller in the distance, before DG rose to her feet as well. “That was odd,” she said, by way of greeting. He nodded once.

“You could say that,” he began before shaking his head to draw his eyes from the elder princess. “She’s come a long way since I last saw her.”

“You’ve been gone awhile, Cain,” DG answered. “Over a month.” He nodded. “How was your trip?”

His ice blue eyes turned toward the lakes, shaded as they were under the familiar gray fedora. “It went well enough. The rebels were ecstatic to hear the news of the Witch’s defeat. They demanded to know exactly how it happened, how she was defeated.” DG watched him carefully, and since she was unable to see his eyes she focused on the slight turn of his lips. “I’ve talked about you a lot, kid,” he continued.

There was something there when he said it, his voice hitched the slightest bit. For a man that rarely relied on words, the slight tone changes and subtle inflections were spotlights on what he was feeling. “I’ve thought a lot about you, Mr. Cain,” she whispered, taking a step toward him. She took note of his army green duster and that he was devoid of his leather vest. Without the vest she caught a glimpse of suspenders over the barrel chest. She remembered perfectly what it was like to be pressed against that chest. Her fingers curled around the fabric of her skirt. His face was still turned away, but her height gave her an advantage for the first time. She could see that even though his face was turned away, those ice blue eyes were focused directly on her under the brim of the fedora. “How long are you back for?”

His gaze flicked away and then back again. “Indefinitely,” he replied. “Your father has asked me to join the Royal Guard.” DG bit back a gasp of surprise.

“But Cain, the Tin Men have been reinstated. The Academy is reopening next week,” she whispered. "Wouldn’t you rather get your star back?”

“It’s a promise for young men, joining up to support the Crown. It’s no place for me.” Now he shifted to face her full on, though his body was still pointed away. It was almost as if he knew how much she wanted to hug him and would not allow it. “I’m just an old Tin Man, rusted around the edges.”

She wanted to argue. She had seen him fight; against man and against himself. She knew the war that went on in his head as they stood in the dingy room with the Mystic Man. She had seen how he wanted to go after Zero, and yet he turned and followed her. He had followed her on a wild goose chase, cutting a blazing path across the O.Z.. He had tailed her like a shadow, a quiet, stoic shadow. He had saved her, time and time again. She wanted him to be happy, that she could admit out loud. What she could not say aloud was that she wanted to contribute directly to that happiness.

“You’re not rusted,” she whispered. She took another step toward him, but he still did not turn his body to face her. He did not reply, but his intense gaze stayed on her until she realized that she had not addressed his news. “So, Royal Guard then,” she asked, louder this time. He nodded. “Will you be happy confined to the palace? I mean, the Guards just kind of stand there. Seems boring for a guy like you.”

There it was, that glint in his eye. She had seen it before when he had teased her standing on the hilltop the day of the eclipse. _There’s less hugging when I do it._ She forced herself not to smile up at him like a schoolgirl with a crush. “Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, Princess,” he answered softly, the corner of his mouth twitching up at the last word. “Ahamo didn’t want me to be a run of the mill Palace Guard, you see.” Now she saw that his pale golden eyebrow was arched above that sparkling blue eye. “Apparently you and your sister have been getting into a smidge of trouble, wandering off, chasing adventures. Your father wants me to be your shadow, make sure you stay out of danger.” Now he turned to face her fully and she had to force herself to remain where she was instead of launching herself at him for the hug she wanted so badly. “So, I guess it’s up to you how boring my days are.” She felt the well of happiness that she would not admit start in her chest and radiate out to her limbs. Then he opened his arms and she fled into them, into the half hug that she had grown so accustomed to.

 

And that is how it began, DG would gallivant across the palace grounds trailing him like the shadow that he had become. There were princess classes for her and Azkadellia, hours of sitting in a classroom listening as Tutor talked at them about duties and responsibilities. No matter how long they sat there, that Tin Man was waiting for her outside those doors. He followed her dutifully on her adventures, watching as she and Azkadellia re-bonded over the magic that flowed so freely between them. They made their way across the divide created by the Witch and found themselves slowly. He watched as it happened, a bond as strong as theirs could only be stretched. It would not be broken. He witnessed DG slowly come back to herself, he saw the glow that he had noticed so faintly in the days across the O.Z. become a radiant light under the tutelage of Tutor; but he watched from a distance.

At least he stayed at a distance most of the time. Every day, at some point, Azkadellia would get up and excuse herself from DG. The younger princess would try to follow her, but she would shrug it off as she left her sister’s side. On her way past Cain the elder princess would meet his gaze and there was that look again, that flicker of hope. He would wait until Azkadellia was away, heading inside for whatever reason she had before he would step up beside the younger princess and greet her for the first time that day. They would talk, sometimes about political matters, or about something she had learned in her studies that day.

More often than not, they spoke of nothing. She would tell him stories of the Other Side, things she missed, things she didn’t. He noticed things about her as she spoke; how her eyes lit up when she spoke of her motorcycle, the farm, her android parental units. Alternatively, when she spoke of her run-ins with the law on the Other Side her eyes darkened and her face fell. He wanted to erase the sadness in those sapphire depths when she spoke of her job and the way she had never fit in. He wanted to wrap her in a hug and hold her until her every bad memory was wiped away. But he never touched her; he maintained his distance, even if it was only by feet. Then, when her stories were exhausted for the day, he would fall in behind her and they would head back toward the palace.

He told her nothing of himself. She did not push.

 

It had been months since he had returned from the Western Wood. The O.Z. was moving forward instead of back; the rebels had disbanded, many of them joining the Tin Academy. Cain still made appearances there every once in a while, when the princesses were distracted by matters of state or some such business. But more often than not he was her shadow, silent in the background, watching with pale eyes. She began to interact with people more and more, becoming a player in the political game that her mother was molding her for. She charmed princes and diplomats with her sweet demeanor and biting wit, she changed the way they looked at her sister in a few moments of easy, sisterly laughter. He watched it all from a distance, but still, everyday Azkadellia would find a reason to excuse herself and he would fall into the vacant space beside her sister. They would talk as though it was just the two of them in the woods along the Old Road.

It was a sunny day, he had a few hours off while she was in lessons with tutor. He was sitting on a bench in the gardens of Finaqua when he heard it, the snap of a twig behind him. It was deliberate, that crunching, and his lips twitched. “I thought you were supposed to be in lessons with DG,” he asked without turning.

The girl behind him froze, he felt it. “How did you know it was me and not her?” Azkadellia questioned after a moment. He did not reply with anything other than a hitch of the shoulder, for fear of giving something away. He would never have told her that he sensed DG’s presence in his very cells whenever she was near. He need not have bothered hiding it, he realized as she came up beside him and dropped to the bench as well. “You’re taking too long, Mr. Cain,” she continued. Startled, he turned to stare at her. “It’s been months and still you won’t tell her what you feel for her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he answered gruffly, his brow crinkling and his lips pursing sourly. “And if your parents found out that you’re skipping classes to spout nonsense at me, they’ll have a fit.” Azkadellia rolled her eyes.

“My parents sent me,” she countered. Now those blue eyes were on her, and even with the shock that clouded them she could see why DG found them so enthralling. “Not in so many words, mind you. They didn’t tell me to come out to the gardens to talk to you, but they did ask me to leave you two alone each day. Mother has been worried about her.” She tilted her head up to gaze at the clouds. “She thinks that you’re good for her; I happen to agree.” Cain did not speak, but his fedora tilted down to mask his face from her. “You’re taking too long, though, Mr. Cain.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking of me,” he argued softly, his head still tilted down.

She touched him, just his shoulder, but it was a physical contact that startled him. He had not touched another human being in months. “I know exactly what I’m asking, Mr. Cain. I’m asking you to let down your walls a bit and let someone in. I’m asking you to have faith in your princess.”

“What if she doesn’t want me?” he whispered, finally letting the little piece of himself that he’s locked away flutter in its cage. “I’m an old man, a rusty old Tin Man. My son is almost her age.”

“Mr. Cain,” Azkadelia said, rising to her feet with the sweep of her skirt. “After everything you’ve been through and everything you’ve done, are you going to tell me you’re a coward when it comes to this?” His head snapped up, ice blue eyes blazing and he met her gaze with the heat of the twin suns. “I didn’t think so.” She turned and moved across the small opening between the rose bushes. “She won’t wait forever, Mr. Cain. And she certainly won’t make the first move. Of the two of you, she’s the one who has the most reason to expect the brush-off.” Without another word, she disappeared around the towering bush leaving him alone with his thoughts.

 

At the end of her session with Tutor, DG stepped from the classroom expecting to find Cain leaning casually against the wall. He was not there. She stopped short on the threshold and looked both ways down the long corridor. He was nowhere to be seen. She frowned as she closed the classroom door behind her and took a left to head off to her next stop in her pattern. She had an hour of free time before she had to attend a meeting with two dignitaries visiting from the north. Her first thought was to return to her chambers and relax there, but she had been trapped inside the classroom for hours and wanted to be outside in the fresh air.

She found her way downstairs and outside, her emerald green gown fluttering around her ankles as she jogged down the steps to the gardens. The movement felt good, her feet beating the path. She was running without thinking where she was going, her hair flying out behind her. She was not being chased this time, but it felt good to run. She sped up, racing herself, taking deep breaths. She turned a corner in the hedge maze and ran smack into an immovable force. He reached out and grasped her arms, holding her steady as she found her footing. “Cain,” she gasped, balancing herself by holding on to his forearms. She was gazing up at him, blue eyes bright as she drank him in. Here he was, in the garden, ready to catch her. Then it struck her. He had to catch her because he had not been waiting outside the classroom for her.

DG dropped her hands from his arms and stepped away from him. “You weren’t there,” she whispered, her blue eyes clouding. His duster was missing, but his fedora was in place. She could not see his eyes, but she felt his gaze. “Where did you go?”

“I’m sorry,” he answered. “I lost track of time. I should have been there.”

She took another step back. “You never lose track of time,” she continued, dropping her gaze to her hands. He did not move and she felt a little hole open up in her heart. “I think I rely on you too much, Tin Man,” she whispered. “I can’t always expect you to be there, shadowing me, can I?”

His heart constricted. This was the moment he feared, this moment when she realized that she no longer needed him. At least it came now, before he admitted how he felt about her. Before he let that little fluttery part of him escape the cage in his heart. “I understand, Princess,” he answered softly, not sure what to do with his hands. He tucked them in his pockets. “I was actually just on my way to speak to Ahamo about transferring my duty to another Guard. I think my time here is done,” he lied, trying to cover the shattering of his heart.

“You know,” she whispered. “I’m starting to think I’ve been reading too many books.” She turned her head away and brought her gaze up to the tops of the hedge maze around them. “You see, when you first came back from the Western Woods and told me that you had been assigned to watch over me, I thought that maybe that meant something. Maybe it meant that what I felt during our race across the O.Z. was real. Then you kept your distance. I started to think that it was because you were still grieving your wife, and if I just waited then you would see me for what I am. But you’re never going to, are you?” It was a rhetorical question, which was good because Cain had no words. Her blue eyes were sparkling with unshed tears as she brought her slender fingers up to brush them away. He hated that she was crying, he had rarely seen her cry. Even when she had discovered the truth about the Witch, even when they first arrived in the squalor of the Realm of the Unwanted, even when she had faced down the Witch that was her sister. She had never cried. She was strong and steadfast and undeniably perfect.

Without thinking about it, his hand found her arm and pulled her into an embrace. She wrapped herself around him, her face buried in his linen shirt, her hands fisting around his suspenders. He tucked her head under his chin and sighed, reaching a hand up to stroke her hair. That was when she froze in his arms as though she had been struck. “Cain,” she mumbled into his chest. “What are you doing?”

“What I should have done months ago,” he whispered, taking a small step away from her. Those sapphire blue eyes widened as his strong, calloused fingers came up under her chin and tilted her face up to gaze at him. “DG, I can’t stand the idea of disappointing you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you left Tutor today. You see, I was pacing in the garden, trying to figure out the words to tell you how much I love you. I’m not one for poetry or love songs. I’m a man of action, not words.”

Her finger on his lips stopped the tenuous thread of speech that was erupting from his mouth and she smiled up at him. “You’re right, Wyatt,” she whispered, his name like magic on her lips. “You are most certainly not a man of words.”

His tentative smile answered hers as her meaning snapped into place just before he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. She wrapped her long arms around his neck and pushed herself up on her tiptoes, allowing his arms to fall around her slim waist and settle her tightly against him. He was the one to break the kiss, pulling back and gasping in a breath. “You’re like oxygen,” he breathed, his voice low in his throat.

“Good,” she whispered back. “That means you’ll never let me go.”


End file.
